Honda investigating fifth fatality linked to Takata air bags

Honda investigating fifth fatality linked to Takata air bags

Honda is investigating its fifth fatality linked to its Takata airbags.Handout

Honda is investigating a fatal crash in Houston this month related to air bags made by Takata Corp., the fifth U.S. death linked to the safety devices.

Carlos Solis IV, a 35-year-old father of two teenagers, was killed Jan. 18 in a Honda Accord he bought in April from a dealership that hadn’t performed a recall on the air bag issued in 2011, according to a lawsuit filed by his family.

Honda hasn’t been able to inspect the vehicle in the crash to confirm that a rupture of the air bag inflator was involved, Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura told reporters on Friday in Tokyo. The company cut its fiscal year profit forecast for the second time in as many quarters as recalls and quality- related costs climb. He confirmed the car driven by Solis hadn’t been repaired as required by the recall.

“We will try to facilitate the recall and improve the ratio of cars fixed,” Iwamura said.

Questions over the safety of air bags made by Takata led to recalls by 10 automakers and congressional hearings as well as calls for reforms to the way vehicle safety is enforced. Takata has formed independent review panels and reorganized management amid the defect crisis that has pushed its shares down 51 percent in the past year.

Honda issued a recall in 2011 for the 2002 Accord that Solis was driving, after identifying a defect in the driver’s side air bag that could cause it to inflate with too much force.

Solis’s death was raised in the U.S. Senate Thursday by Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. An investigation into air-bag ruptures shows more people have been injured in incidents involving exploding Takata air bags than previously disclosed, Nelson said.

Documents filed with the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee indicate five fatalities, Nelson said. Nelson is backing legislation, along with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, that would reward whistle-blowing auto company employees who report safety defects to the government.

Honda has confirmed three deaths in the U.S. related to Takata bags, spokesman Chris Martin said. Two others, including the Texas incident, are under investigation. Another fatality in Malaysia has been linked to the air bags.

Florida accidents

Nelson has said at least 64 people have been injured in incidents involving exploding Takata air bags. Florida is a hot spot for Takata incidents, with 18 of the total injuries and one of the five deaths taking place there, Nelson said.

Executives from both Takata and Honda testified at a Nov. 20 Senate hearing discussing the air-bag recalls and fatalities. Nelson said at the time automakers should provide rental cars for models that can’t be immediately fixed because of “the fear that grips the public.”

Takata also expressed condolences over the Jan. 18 death.

“We are working in close collaboration with Honda to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the vehicle’s status at the time of the incident,” the company said in a statement. “Takata’s number one priority is the safety of the driving public.”

Solis’s family sued Honda, Takata and the dealership on Jan. 27 in state court in Houston.

Minor collision

The accident stemmed from a “relatively minor collision resulting in minimal damage to both vehicles,” according to the lawsuit. The front air bag in the Accord deployed and the inflator exploded, sending shards of metal into his neck and he died at the scene, according to the lawsuit.

Solis’s family says in the lawsuit that the dealership should have checked to see if the vehicle was subject to a recall before it was sold.

“We’re continuing to investigate this matter but there is no evidence that this was anything else but an inflator rupture,” said Robert Ammons, attorney for Solis’s children.
Solis left two children, a 14-year-old boy and a 13-year- old girl.

Honda said it has reported preliminary information about the incident to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.